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Field testing begins on free access platform gate DOKODEMOSAKU® installed at train station
August 27, 2013
1.Presenters
Yoshihiro Suda, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Director, Advanced Mobility Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science
Yoshikazu Iizuka, General Manager, Sales & Marketing Section
Urban Systems & Engineering Division, Kobe Steel, Ltd.
2.Main Point
Field testing of a free access platform gate called DOKODEMOSAKU® will begin from August 31, 2013. The new gate is being jointly developed by The Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo and Kobe Steel, Ltd.
3.Details
The Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo and Kobe Steel have been developing a free access platform gate system called DOKODEMOSAKU®. With the cooperation of Seibu Railway Co., Ltd., DOKODEMOSAKU® was installed at the back end of Platform 1 at Shin-Tokorozawa Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line in Saitama Prefecture, outside Tokyo. Field testing of the free access platform gate will be conducted for about half a year beginning from August 31, 2013.
About DOKODEMOSAKU®
To prevent accidental falls from station platforms onto the train tracks, railway companies have been promoting the use of automatic platform gates (also known as platform screen doors). However, when the number of doors and the position of the doors of incoming train cars differ from the number of doors and positions of the platform gates, conventional platform gates cannot be used.
In response to this social problem, The University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science and Kobe Steel have jointly developed DOKODEMOSAKU®, a free access platform gate. In this system, not only the doors, but the door guards themselves can move to accommodate different door configurations on train cars.
Using DOKODEMOSAKU®, train cars currently in use do not have to be replaced and all train stations can basically use the new system. The new system accommodates all types of train cars, and the trains can stop anywhere in the station. As the free access platform gate can be installed without a train automatic stop-position controller (TASC), a major advantage is a considerable reduction in investment costs.
The project has received a subsidy for railway technology development from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
